Seeking advice

[gsxrexx]

Have lurked here for the past couple years and finally decided to sign up.
I'm 25, probably been thinning since 19-20. I guess I would consider myself a NW2V, have thinned hair on the crown and hairline is thin and uneven as well. My hair consistency is pretty curly, dry and straggly (?)

Exactly a year ago, finally took the plunge with Minoxidil 5% (Lipogaine) once every night and have actaully seen good results with regrowth at the hairline, i have lots of mini hairs pop up but they dont seem to grow out and i would say the same for the crown, i can feel the fuzzy baby hairs but they dont feel like they are adding coverage. I also use Nizoral 1% once a week

Now Im deciding weather or not to go all in and finally add finasteride to my plan. I have read up on all the sides so of course im a bit hesitant, but im trying to see if I would be a good responder to it.
I should also mention that I am pretty damn hairy with coarse black body hair (everywhere except my head lol so i guess I would say i have very high DHT levels
I am of South Asian descent

I am getting blood work done this week and will try asking my doctor about it and see what she says about it

Anyone similar to me out here that can chime in? I was trying to look into weather certain ethnicities/races respond better to finasteride (less side effects) but couldnt really find anything definitve...

 

[zzzzz]

Asians respond better to finasteride. As for sides not sure. They are low for everyone

 

[gsxrexx]

Interdasting

By Asians are u talking about far east, like chinese/japs type?

How about India/Pakistan? Any studies on people with indo-aryan features?

 

[gsxrexx]

Update:
Just had my blood drawn and spoke to my Doctor about propecia. She recommends it in small doses according to her 1mg. I asked her about taking less than that, such as .5mg EOD and she had not heard of that. She wrote me a prescription for finasteride but im a little hesitant to start it just yet, was thinking to wait untill after my blood test results to get an idea of where everything is at.
She also said they can only test for testosterone but not DHT...would it be worth it to get DHT tested elsewhere? She didnt recommend it...

 

[TD500]

1mg is the usual amount for hairloss anything more will have the same effect I believe. .5mg is fine I'm lazy, but I'm sure someone will post the info on how the dosage for finasteride has a flat effect? or something like that.

 

[gsxrexx]

i thinking to start with .5 eod, this is after she told me .25 may not work but i have read some peoples results from taking .25 and seems to work for some..
damn i wish there was more conclusive evidence..

 

[streamline44]

i thinking to start with .5 eod, this is after she told me .25 may not work but i have read some peoples results from taking .25 and seems to work for some..
damn i wish there was more conclusive evidence..

Hello Gsx, I too am starting on propecia (1mg finasteride) soon too, picking up my filled script tomorrow.

Your doctor told you .5 EOD is fine? I am just wondering because that is the dosage I was going to start on. I've read in some places .25 mg every third day has the same effect as 1 mg ed. I don't know how accurate this is, I tried to post the article in the discussions section to check legitimacy but unfortunately, there was no responses.

 

[gsxrexx]

She said that I could try .5 although she had not heard of it...she said to go ahead and take 1mg since that is pretty low, but i was thinking to start with .5 EOD and monitor for sides, if that works out well i may bump to .5 ED, and eventually 1mg EOD or ED depending on how well i respond to it.

 

[ibulicious9955@gmail.com]

Propecia has an excellent safety profile.Thousands of men use it with absolutely zero or negligible side effects. All drugs have side effects. Even asprin does. We dont notice them cuz no one has told us about them. But once u pop in a propecia, the mild side effects might appear in the first few weeks( watery semen, low libido) and they gradually disappear after a while.The side effects are all in our heads, buddy. I am 18 now and I am planning to start propecia when I am 19 or so.

 

[streamline44]

She said that I could try .5 although she had not heard of it...she said to go ahead and take 1mg since that is pretty low, but i was thinking to start with .5 EOD and monitor for sides, if that works out well i may bump to .5 ED, and eventually 1mg EOD or ED depending on how well i respond to it.

I think that's what I'm going to do too.

Look at this article: http://www.hairloss-research.org/UpdateProscar2Jan-08.html

I don't know how legitimate the doctor's statements or the study is, but apperantly .2 MG of finasteride every third day still gives you the full effect as if you were using 1mg per day.

On the contrary, I have also heard and read people's statements saying that they experienced the same sides even if they were doing half doses and whatnot.

I'm just going to start out with .5 mg every other day for a couple of months and see if I see any noticeable change in my shedding, if so then I know it's benefiting me somehow, if not then I will just start using the 1 mg per day.

 

[gsxrexx]

^
i guess it really depends on the individual..i have also heard that people had sides with as little as .2, but i guess .5 is a good middle of the road dosage since its not too much or too little...
lets try .5 eod for a couple weeks and see what it does/

- - - Updated - - -

Just got my blood test results.
looks like my test is in normal range (600) but i am vitamin D deficient...could this have any effect on hairloss? dont think so, but i have noticed that I get sick more often now.
Thyroid is also normal, but I have an elevated liver enzyme that my Doctor wants to retest.

Thinking about adding zinc as well when i start finasteride next week.